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Category Archives: Food for Thought

I’m visiting Hawaii for a little bit just to get a break from New York and one of my favorite things to eat when I’m home are conveyor belt sushi. Some of the Genki Sushis here have recently undergone a makeover. Gone are the conveyor belts and in its place are rockets and trains, which got me thinking: will we need waiters/waitresses/servers when technology takes over in restaurants?

Before I proceed, watch this video to see how Genki Sushi operates. So while I was there, we sat down at a booth and looked through the menu. All you do is use the touch screen above the table to choose the sushi you want. You can only choose four dishes to be delivered at a time. Then, the workers in the kitchen make the sushi and send it off on a train to your table. It’s really cool, I definitely enjoyed being able to choose whatever I wanted without having human interaction. But, when it was time to pay, I thought, “Do I tip my waiter? What exactly did they do because the trains did all of the work for them?”

Usually, waiters at Genki Sushis would run orders from customers to the kitchen. They still refill waters and they also serve some dishes like dessert to the table. But that’s it. There’s really no need to check on how the customers are doing because if the customers had a problem, they could flag down a waiter by pressing a button.

Waiters are servers are such an essential part of restaurants because they very much play a large part in setting the tone of the restaurant. And they make a living off of tips. But what happens when you eliminate the need for their services? I think this type of technology is a game changer for restaurants and honestly, I don’t think that being a waiter or server can flourish with this new style of service. Technology is both exciting and scary, and I am intrigued to see how this type of service plays out in restaurants.

The root of the problem, in my opinion, is what is placed in our foods.

Food these days are heavily processed, especially fast food. Fast food is cheap and convenient because we are a society that is always on the go.

This Business Insider map shows how many fast food restaurants there are in all 50 states. In New York, there are 17,461. That is a major contradiction for a nation that is trying to reduce obesity.

Fast foods are not the only culprits of unhealthy eating. There are many other foods that are marketed to be “good” for us and evidently cause more harm.

It is unreal how many unpronounceable words there are on ingredients lists and how many chemicals are placed in our foods.

For example, the drink Sunny Delight is marketed as a drink that “gives you a kick of Vitamins C and B1. And it’s good for you…” according to the Sunny D website. That’s nice, but what is actually in a bottle of Sunny D?

This isn’t even a soft drink and it does not take a large amount of it to be deemed as unhealthy. Sure, there are vitamins listed. But, there are other ways to receive them than to drink a juice with high fructose corn syrup and canola oil.

While we’re on the subject of high fructose corn syrup, contrary to what the Corn Refiner’s Association says about it, sugar is NOT sugar. High fructose corn syrup is not healthier just because it is made out of corn.

According to a Princeton University Research team, high fructose corn syrup leads to considerably more weight gain. The 2010 study was conducted on rats. One group received rat chow with HFCS and another without. The study found that the rats gained a significant amount of weight to the point that they were obese.

This study explains the differences between HFCS and sucrose. Sucrose is half fructose and half glucose. HFCS has a higher content of fructose, hence its name. The fructose molecule in HFCS is unbound and absorbs in the body faster, whereas the fructose in sucrose is bound and requires an extra step to be metabolized. Faster absorption leads to greater body fat.

HFCS is found in sugary beverages and all sorts of everyday foods such as certain cereal, ketchup, yogurt, and bread.

There is still a prevalent issue of unhealthy foods out there that can lead to obesity. It is not just in large beverages. Foods marketed as “healthy” are sometimes not.

The government should not regulate what we are allowed eat. Rather, it should regulate what is added into our foods and cut back on unhealthy influences, such as fast foods restaurants.

If only there was a way to shut down all of these big corporations that add junk into our everyday foods and start over completely fresh. No pesticides, no chemicals, no big words in the ingredients. Just back to the basics of plain, raw, and simple. We may think we are eating healthy, but the proof is in the HFCS-filled pudding.

So, how can we regulate our own food?

Check the ingredients list of whatever you buy. If you can’t pronounce it, it’s probably not good for you.

Try to eat as much raw, unprocessed food as you can.

Buy organic and/or local.

Don’t count calories. Instead, take note of the ingredients.

Enjoy everything in moderation. I know I run a food blog and it may look like I am eating my words (almost literally), but indulge within reason.

Disclaimer: I am by no means a health food expert or nutritionist. Everything stated is based on research and all opinions are my own.